My oldest and youngest sons have both
been very brilliant stage actors throughout their high school years. In fact, my youngest son is currently a
senior in high school and will be performing in “Little Women” this coming
weekend.
Over the years they have played a
variety of different rolls in many classic Shakespeare plays, musical such as
South Pacific, Thoroughly Modern Millie, My Fair Lady, dramas such as Julius Caesar,
murder mysteries, and even one appearance as the lovable lead in Winnie the Pooh
(although I won’t reveal any pictures of this one as to not embarrass my son).
My oldest son also played a role in a college
performance adaptation of The Princess Bride, which was utterly hilarious (he
was he hit of the show) & performed a piece in which he portrayed a handicapped child which always moved me to tears and with which he competed at the Nationals in Witchita, Kansas his senior year in high school.
I have always been fascinated by their
performances as they transformed themselves through the magic of make-up, costumes,
accents and stage lights into ancient Senators and noblemen, Navy Commanders,
Retired Army Generals,
Chinese Immigrants and so forth.
My limited acting experience came in
Jr. High when I played a dimwitted father in a little known comedy called, “The
Rise and Fall of Wilbur’s Empire.” I got
plenty of laughs playing the part of a not-so-smart-and –slow-on-the-uptake
dad, although I was probably only good in the role because it came naturally to
me!
I guess thinking about my son’s
performances got me wondering about what it is about theater, movies and so
forth that interests us and engages our senses so much. I think part of it is the fact that during
the time of the performance or show, we are able to escape into a false reality
for a period of time where we don’t have to face the actualities of life.
Part of the reason may also be that
even though many of us may never have acted on stage or in film in our lives,
most of us have probably worn “artificial personality masks” of some kind or
another in our public lives and interactions.
In essence, we are displaying in public a different kind of personality
or traits than we do when we are in private.
Now I know that we all likely act a
little bit different in private than we do in public, and that may not always
be a bad thing. When in the confines of
our own home, you may not hesitate to pass gas, scratch an awkward itch or walk
around in your underwear – things we hopefully would modify and not display in
the public arena. But that’s not the
kind of thing I’m talking about here.
What I’m thinking about is more of a
Phantom of the Opera kind of thing.
Wherein we put on a mask that makes us look dignified, professional, patient,
honest and kind...
but then
in our private life at home with our family we take off that fake persona and
reveal a personality that is more mean, condescending, rude, dishonest,
unfaithful or internally hideous.
That
leads me to the question about the importance of honesty and integrity. Integrity
is defined by our friends at Merriam-Webster as: 1. The quality of being honest
and fair, 2. The state of being complete or whole, 3. Firm adherence to a code
of especially moral values: incorruptibility, 4. The quality or state of being
complete or undivided: wholeness
To illustrate this point I will borrow
a few images which demonstrate how our beliefs, words and actions align to
create integrity at the center of what we do.
If we are not completely honest with
ourselves and allow our actions to differ from our words and beliefs then our
lives become less balanced, off-centered, and filled with hollowness or even
darkness inside.
I believe that true happiness and
lasting inner peace can only be achieved when all three factors: Actions, Words and Beliefs come into an
almost full alignment with each other, and especially when they are based upon the
principles of righteousness, love, kindness, service
and charity.
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